Belal Muhammad shattered expectations and ushered in a new era when he defeated Leon Edwards to capture the welterweight belt, becoming UFC’s first-ever Palestinian-born champion. The champ has since echoed his stance of wanting to be a active champion, fighting whoever the division has to offer.
But the ‘Remember the Name’ recently revealed the UFC’s strategy with a sly tweet, subtly mocking the promotional head, Dana White for offering undefeated Kazakh ‘Nomad’ Shavkat Rakhmonov, particularly for his first title defense.
Taking things to social media, the champ posted an picture of Dana White as Morpheus from ‘The Matrix’ Franchise, offering him the choice of picking up two fights.
Interestingly, Rakhmonov is both the red and blue pill, indicating that the promotional head was leaving him with no choice but to fight the Kazakh.
Dana be like… pic.twitter.com/nGmmli01rw
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 31, 2024
Rakhmonov is coming off of his stellar submission win against two-time title challenger, Stephen Thompson and has been touted as the next in line for the title for quite a while.
However, Belal seems like he is going back on his word after former king, Kamaru Usman made his intentions clear.
Belal Muhammad wants the winner of Usman vs Rakhmonov
The scenes in the welterweight category are ever-changing and after Belal rose up the ranks to become the next champion, a lot has been happening with Palestinian American fighter taking time to respond to all the challenges.
Basking in his glory, the champ is clapping back at everything and everyone, dismissing the claims and he rightfully did the same when #3 ranked WW Rakhmonov accused him of refusing fights, essentially ducking him.
This however got the champion’s attention and he was quick to slap back. Responding to the Kazakh’s “inactive” rant, Belal tweeted out his response –
“Inactive? Lol I’m still on trial and Shavkat hasn’t fought since 2023 I think Shavkat and usman should fight to find the real number one contender.”
According to the champ, Usman who also had rattled his cage, should fight with the surging Kazakh to find out who the real #1 contender is before they can aspire for a title fight.
Afterall, Belal faced the biggest challenge of his life a few months ago, going all five rounds against Leon Edwards, taking a vicious beating in the final frame, and that certainly warrants a little longer than October for his next bout.
